Should you buy from the gray market?TRIVIA
Should you buy from the gray market?
Hold your breath, that fantastic deal that you struck when you bought your coveted DSLR form the gray market at 20% rebate may leave a very bitter aftertaste in your mouth! Not only you are depriving your country of taxes and duties, you are abetting smuggling and all that black market stuff! Also keep in mind that some of the gray cameras probably failed the pre-packaging quality test and were quietly released in the gray by the manufacturer! Bad electrical components, stuck/ hot pixels, focusing errors... your nightmares may have just begun! Why deprive yourself of the chance of suing a genuine reseller when that pricy light box goes kaput! Again, Buying from faceless entities form the internet is equivalent to gray market with all other risks associated with transactions carried out on the web. Also, buying off a "dealer guarantee" will take you nowhere if you do not get the manufacturer's endorsement.
Recently though, one of my friends had a disconcerting experience. His daughter was down with a life-threatening condition and the doctors prescribed certain anti-biotic / medicines not available legally in this country. He bought the entire lot from the gray market, of course! It worked wonders for the baby. What would you say to that? Did he commit a financial crime? The analogy may be a bit off the mark but when the authorized channels quote prices 30 to 35 % higher than the gray market, folks do get tempted. Fortunately, companies like Canon (and of late, Nikon too) are very sensibly closing the gap between the gray and white. However, if you do choose a gray-marketer, please be sure he'll lend his shoulder to your tears and swap the merchandise if need be.
Why buy only Nikon and Canon?
Well, there are companies who have been pioneers in the field but owing to unbearable financial pressures either have bowed out or have outsourced/sold away the photographic products manufacturing activities. These are the fallen angels of the industry. Then there are the electronic giants who may be the best in different spheres but not have quite been able to come to terms with the photographic technology the way Nikon and Canon do it. These are the aspiring angels who have to travel a long way to match the expertise and the product line up of Nikon and Canon. Lastly, there are the moonlighters who'd try to assemble and sell everything right from a lighter to space-ships but are hard put to produce a decent manual.
Sticking with Nikon and Canon will give you the advantage of a longish history of research and development dedicated to photographic equipments. They are the insiders who have mastered the art and science of making light-boxes and know their camera bodies and lenses like the backs of their palms. Without doubt, The systems produced by the duo are the finest pieces of opto-electro-mechanical marvels on the earth today. The Nikon lenses, or the 'Nikkor', are probably the best pieces of glass manufactured anywhere. The same can be vouched for the Canon too who have a stunning line-up of coveted 'L' series lenses.
The same cannot be vouched for the others. Put simply, investing in a Nikon or a Canon system will keep you out of trouble.